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Pasadena Police Chief Speaks Out About Death Of Kendrec McDade

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Pasadena Police Chief Phillip Sanchez spoke out Thursday on the radio about the death of Kendrec McDade, the Pasadena teenager killed by police after a false 911 report of an armed robbery.

“I think it’s particularly hurtful for a lot of people in Pasadena,” Chief Sanchez said on KLJH radio.

Two officers, Jeffery Newlen and Mathew Griffin, shot McDade on March 25 when they saw him running and mistakenly thought he was carrying a gun, according to Pasadena police Lt. Phlunte Riddle. They had been responding to a 911 call by Pasadena resident Oscar Carillo, who told an emergency dispatcher that two armed suspects had taken his backpack.

Carrillo, 26, later admitted that while his backpack had been stolen, the suspects were not armed, police said. He was arrested last week on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter for allegedly lying to the 911 dispatcher.

“Its concerning because it increases the officer’s sense of hyper vigilance, what could occur? What’s possible?” Chief Sanchez said.

Carrillo told authorities that he lied about being robbed by armed assailants because he thought it would make officers respond faster.

Los Angeles County prosecutors Monday declined to file an involuntary manslaughter charge against Carrillo, who remains jailed on an immigration hold.

Newlen and Griffin have been placed on paid administrative leave.

McDade and a 17-year-old boy who was with him are accused of burglarizing Carrillo’s vehicle, but they were not armed, according to police.

The boy has been charged with grand theft, commercial burglary and failure to register as a gang member as a condition of probation.

McDade’s family has filed a lawsuit against the Pasadena Police Department alleging pattern of abuse and asking if officers would have shot him if he wasn’t a 19-year-old black man.